Life Lion flight of Harrisburg police dog was a first

The patient was a police dog. The request was to fly it to an animal hospital via Life Lion medical helicopter.

The dispatcher passed the request to Lynn Doherty, the Life Lion administrator on call that night.

Doherty said OK.

She doesn't regret it.

Harrisburg Police officer Cpl. Ty Meik plays with Zeke, his two and a half-year-old Belgian Malinois Harrisburg Police dog, after it was released from the Rossmoyne Animal Emergency Trauma Center today. The 57lb dog was shot Friday while chasing a crime suspect. Mark Pynes | mpynes@pennlive.com

"I know if I had to make the same snap decision, with the same circumstances, I would do the same thing," she says.

The police dog sustained injuries, including a torn jugular vein, and was losing a lot of blood. Life Lion was summoned and Zeke was flown to an emergency facility for animals. The facility is 18-24 miles away by ground from the place where Zeke was shot.

Life Lion, which is operated by Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, has no policy for handling such a request, Doherty said.

However, Doherty said local police officers had previously approached her about the possibility of using Life Lion if a police dog were severely injured. She replied, "Sure we would be open to discussing that."

&lt;a href="http://polldaddy.com/poll/6977382/"&gt;Should an emergency helicopter have been used to transport the police dog?&lt;/a&gt;

After the Life Lion dispatcher received the call regarding Zeke, he paged Doherty.

Doherty said her decision was driven by awareness that police dogs such as Zeke are considered sworn law enforcement officers. They represent a significant investment of tax dollars. Moreover, they have a substantial role in protecting the safety of the public and of police.

Given the situation, she felt Zeke had "the same responsibilities and rights as the other members of the law enforcement team."

Yet that doesn't mean Zeke's needs are considered equal to those of a human, she explained.

At the time of the call, both Life Lion helicopters were available. So if a transport request involving a human would have come in, Life Lion could have responded, Doherty said.

"If it was between a dog and a human, it would be the human," she said.

Life Lion arrived within 15 minutes. Zeke was flown to to Rossmoyne Animal Emergency Trauma Center near Mechanicsburg.

Zeke, who lost about 15 percent of his blood, underwent two hours of surgery. The two-and-a-half-year-old Belgian Malinois is expected to fully recovery.

"The helicopter made the difference here," veterinarian Mark Meyerhoff said.

Doherty pointed out that decisions on whether to summon Life Lion are made by medical personnel on the scene. Harrisburg police weren't immediately available to discuss the reasons for transporting Zeke by helicopter and Stewart by ambulance.

Doherty, a registered nurse and the program manager for Life Lion, pointed out that, depending on the medical situation, a medical flight isn't always the best option.

According to Google Maps, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, where Stewart was taken, is less than ten miles from the location where he was shot, and can by reached in as little as 18 minutes with normal driving.

Doherty said she didn't know the exact cost of Zeke's flight and how billing will be handled.

She said that, nationally, the average cost of an aeromedical flight is about $15,000. Rossmoyne Animal Emergency Trauma Center donated Zeke's care, which it said would have cost about $4,000.

Police said Skyler Stewart, who shot Zeke and was later shot by police, was a suspect in a shooting and assault that took place Thursday night. Police said they were trying to serve a warrant on him Friday when he pulled a gun on a detective and ran away through a wooded area, where police believe he shot Zeke.

Doherty said she has no knowledge of the policies of other medical flight providers regarding transporting police dogs.

She said she has been in contact with industry colleagues. Some told her they would have made the same decision, and some don't believe in using a medical flight for that purpose, she said.

Doherty said Life Lion crew members were "overwhelmingly positive" regarding transporting Zeke.

However, she said Life Lion administrators are "still taking stock," and the situation will likely spur conversations with local enforcement officials, and maybe additional training for Life Lion personnel.

She further said she expects such requests -- this was the first one ever involving a police dog -- will continue to be handled on a "case by case" basis.

"I think it's always going to be on a case-by-case basis, because I really want to limit it to law enforcement and emergency service canines. I don't want to expand this to any other kind of animal," she said.